Sunday, February 3, 2013

Milan 2, Udinese 1: Housewarming

It
would have been spectacular to say that Milan gave Balotelli a housewarming
party that ended up with 3 points to welcome him. But the team themselves
couldn’t quite pull it off, so Valeri and his team of refs stepped up and
gifted the win instead. I wish it were any other way. Instead of the sweet,
sweet taste of victory, it was a bit sour at the end. However, no matter how
badly I feel for Udinese, it’s hard to be crushed watching Balotelli score a
brace in his very first appearance for the club of his dreams. So however we
got here, or whether or not we deserve it, Welcome Home, Super Mario!

Perche sempre mi?

Balotelli
knows how to make an entrance. So 40 seconds in on his debut, he took a
brilliant shot that hit the post, just inches away from scoring. He got the
start due to a Pazzini injury during warmup. And after this performance, I’m
not even sure that Pazzini wants to get well. But Super Mario certainly wasn’t
alone in his efforts. In fact, in the 11th, Niang had an attempt almost point
blank that Padelli miraculously saved. Niang didn’t stop there, though. He
headed the rebound, which fortunately for Udinese was cleared by a defender. An
explosive opening few minutes, though.

This
amazing new offense thrilled throughout the first half, although Udinese were
quick to counter whenever we lost focus, which was too often for my taste. Like
in the 15th, when Montolivo earned his token yellow card for yet another clumsy
tackle. Now he’ll miss Cagliari next week, that really hurts us. But it was in
the 25th that the magic happened. El Shaarawy crossed the ball into Ballotelli,
who slotted it in to the back of the net. 1-0 Milan. Cue erupting crowd of
35,000+ at the San Siro.

Worth every penny.

But
the Balotelli show was just beginning. In the 28th he took a fierce shot from
distance forcing Padelli into one of many great saves on the night. Padelli was
huge, for his sake alone, I wish the reffing had been less controversial. Like
the yellows awarded to Pinzi and Domizzi in the 13th and 38th respectively that
were pretty soft calls. But I couldn’t dwell too much on those things during
the match, as I was distracted by amazing things such as a Niang clearance at
the back in the 35th. I guess Berlusconi and Galliani decided instead of buying
new defenders, they would just buy strikers who also play defense. Niang was
simply beast today, if Balotelli inspired his brilliance, then they must always
play together.

The
second half was our normal first half. We kind of fell apart, even if we at
least showed some sense of urgency. We were just careless & made too many
mistakes. Like in the 52nd, when Bonera was beaten by Di Natale. Luckily for
us, Di Natale also did not connect with that cross. Or in the 55th, when a
slight deflection by Zapata saw Pinzi score, 1-1 all. El Shaarawy had more
shots in the second half, but Niang and Balotelli kept shooting, too. Padelli
will have nightmares from our Triple Threat™ tonight.

A new way to spell team: Triple Threat™

In
an effort to prevent alcoholism on our blog here, Allegri made a substitution
in the 67th. He brought on Bojan for Nocerino. I thought Nocerino had been
pretty effective, the other two midfielders getting tired and sloppy, but
whatever. Bojan did energize the attack, and even got a shot off that was wide in
the 80th. Which was more than I could say for Robinho, who came on in the 80th
for Niang. And that’s the last I remember seeing him. With Niang’s attempt to
break his 2nd goalpost this week in the 78th, I kind of feel like he would have
been better off left on, but I know Allegri reads this blog, and he knows I
will call him out if he doesn’t use all three subs. In the 82nd, El Shaarawy
showed where Niang learned to defend with a great clearance all the
way at the other end. Traoré came on for Flamini in the 85th. The former not
making much impact, unfortunately, and the latter not earning any cards. Amazing how when he plays so much better, he doesn't get carded. Huh. In the
86th, Balotelli took a free kick, but it was saved. And in the 91st, Bonera,
having mainly made poor contributions on the night, contributed something very
valuable: the leadership and calmness of a captain. When a controversy arose and
both sets of players were surrounding the ref, he pushed back his teammates and
calmly talked to the ref. Now if only he could play that well, too.

Milan is back.

In
the 92nd minute, El Shaarawy was the victim of a tackle in the box, and this is
where the big controversy arose. The defender got ball first, but it appeared
to be a rough tackle. And so the ref gave Milan the penalty. The rest is
history. Robinho was going to take it, but that was not going to happen on Balotelli’s
watch. It was his homecoming, his party, and he stepped up and took it
like a boss. 2-1 Milan. Padelli didn’t
deserve that, after all of his super saves, and Udinese deserved something from
a game that they were simply tough as nails throughout. Despite Milan's 22 shots, 9 of which were on goal, Udinese should have probably had a point thanks to Padelli's heroics alone.

I
would be lying if I didn’t have guilt, it’s what women do best. But I also have
indescribable joy. I am so very happy for Super Mario. He seems so very
genuinely happy, and I am so very happy for him. Whatever his psychological
issues are, he has also been hounded by media and has actually survived the
evils of the British Press. For that alone, he is a superhero. But watching
what he brought to the pitch, to the stadium, and to the hopes and dreams of
fans throughout the world, I am very, very excited. Another 3 points, drawing
even with Inter on the table, and a successful and memorable housewarming party
for Super Mario. Does it get any better than this? Let’s hope so. We still
showed our weaknesses tonight. But the future is so much brighter when you have
a superhero on your side. Benvenuto a
casa, Mario. Grazie per i due gol! Third place, here we come. Balotelli is in the house.